**************************TABLE SEATING POLICY
Table seating for all seated shows is reserved exclusively for ticket holders who purchase “Table Seating” tickets. By purchasing a “Table Seating” ticket you agree to also purchase a minimum of two food and/or beverage items per person. Table seating is first come, first seated. Please arrive early for the best choice of available seats. Seating begins when doors open. Tables are communal so you may be seated with other patrons. We do not take table reservations.

A standing room area is available by the bar for all guests who purchase “Standing Room” tickets. Food and beverage can be purchased at the bar but there is no minimum purchase required in this area.

All tickets sales are final. No refund or credits.

Artists

Members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

Founded by Daniel Barenboim and Edward W. Said in 1999, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra brings together musicians from Israel, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt – joined by a number of musicians from Iran, Turkey and Spain – to perform music and promote mutual understanding, non-violence and reconciliation. The orchestra regularly appears at leading international music festivals and concert halls and has given historically unprecedented performances in Ramallah, in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, and most recently at Castel Gandolfo at the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI. Since Edward W. Said’s untimely death in 2003, his widow Mariam C. Said has taken on an active role in the projects of the Barenboim-Said Foundation as Vice-President of its US branch in New York. Originally created at the invitation of the Kunstfest Weimar and now based in Seville, Spain, the orchestra derives its name from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s collection of poems entitled “West-Eastern Divan,” a central work in the evolution of the concept of world culture. An Emmy Award-winning documentary titled “Knowledge is the Beginning” was made about the orchestra in 2006 (a clip is available here). Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has hailed the orchestra as “a source of inspiration and a model for the Middle East and the rest of the world,” and Ban Ki-moon named Barenboim a UN Messenger of Peace for his work with the Divan.

Daniel Barenboim

Daniel Barenboim is one of the most compelling figures in the music world today. As well as being renowned as a conductor and pianist, he is a noted author, lecturer, and public intellectual whose work aims to foster an appreciation for music’s vital humanity in an increasingly interdependent world. Serving as Music Director of the Staatsoper Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin, and the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the maestro is also in great demand with leading orchestras and opera houses around the world. In 1999, he and the late Palestinian literary scholar Edward W. Said co-founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which brings together musicians from Israel, Palestine, and other Arab countries to perform music and promote reflection and mutual understanding. Barenboim’s prodigious career as a symphonic and operatic conductor and a solo and collaborative pianist has included more than 90 recordings, eight Grammy Awards, music directorships with the Orchestre de Paris and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as frequent performances at the Bayreuth Festival. Born in Buenos Aires in 1942, Barenboim moved to Israel at the age of ten and presently holds citizenship in Argentina, Israel, Palestine, and Spain.

In November 2012, Maestro Barenboim announced the formation of the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin, Germany, which will upon its opening in 2015 translate the experience of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra into a permanent, year-round institution for young musicians from the Middle East, building on the legacy of Edward W. Said’s work. In addition to music instruction, students will receive a core curriculum in arts and humanities. Housed in a building adjacent to the Staatsoper, the Academy will feature a concert hall designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry.